While 2023 started way earlier for the developers at KUNOS Simulazioni, Assetto Corsa Competizione players saw it start in April, as the latest DLC pack, dubbed 2023 GT World Challenge Pack, came to public this Wednesday (19), which adds a new circuit and three new GT3s recently released for real world competition.
The circuit added is the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, in Valencia, Spain, a recent addition to the FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe to end the season. Curiously, other series with more history at Valencia like MotoGP and NASCAR Whelen Euro Series choose Valencia to close the year. In racing simulators, excluding the yearly releases of MotoGP games, the last time Valencia appeared in a car racing sim was in the early iterations of RFactor2 almost a decade ago as a third party affiliate content.
With 4,005 km of extension, two long straights offer the top speed show in the circuit, linked by a mid speed corner which is usually done on the edge of track limits, while hairpins on the other side of these straights link the twisty section, formed by mid to slow speed corners in quick succession.
The cars in question in the pack are the Ferrari 296 GT3, the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 and the Porsche 911 GT3R 992-Spec, all homologated for competition and with balance of performance properly applied early into 2023.
The 296 GT3 is a breaking point for Ferrari, as gone is Michellotto and in comes Oreca as the car developer, which combines styling from the 488 and the GTO models in an interesting mix of present and past, while improved aerodynamics are the main highlight that, despite having a change in the company responsible for development, it still shows the predictiness and stability that made all Ferrari GT3s a preference for those already in the Ferrari Corse Clienti program or not.
The Huracán Evo2 was based in the Huracán STO road going version, and proving that you can learn from your previous steps, both share an inspiration in the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo, in special the Huracán ST Evo. As usual, taming a bull isn’t the easiest thing in the world, so all the pace you can gain from the improved aerodynamics and its V10 engine mean that it can be very temperamental with sudden imputs, or at least a bit more than its DLC companions.
The 992 spec of the 911 GT3R refines the work already done in the 991.2 spec car, which practically mitigated the oversteer tendency it had by having the engine in a more central position and by working harder on the underfloor and rear axle to provide a more direct airflow and improve stability. It’s certainly the most impressive car of the DLC pack as its acceleration outpaces the 296 GT3 by a certain margin, but still requires a precise approach as the Huracán Evo2.
Along with the DLC, the base game was updated to the version 1.9, which changed physics dramatically in various aspects of the mechanical grip, like tire flex, pressure and temperature, bumpstops and electronics. The ACC Steam page has the full changelog and players received a detailed document with the changes, while physics developer Aristotelis Vasilakos also did his part and showed it first hand in two separate live streams in his YouTube channel.
For the moment, since a few 2023 GTWC liveries were released as the Europe series hasn’t started yet, the new cars will remain in the Open Series for the Single Player car selection, but eventually the 2023 season will receive its own section once the whole grid is completed, in special because the entry list is already available.
IMAGES: Assetto Corsa Competizione in-game screens
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